Monday, December 5, 2016

Anchor Christmas Ale 2016

Surprise! Anchor Brewing created another Christmas Ale this year, 42nd year in a row with a different recipe. And another beautiful label, this year depicting the 1000 Mile Tree, Pinus solitarius. Atop the tree this year, look closely, is a person sipping on a mug of beer. I thought you also might enjoy the labels from each of the years, super cool! 6.5% alcohol. Under the cap: To Niels SKAL!

Caramel and fruit aroma, a little nutty as well. Dark fruit flavors, smoky, caramel and cherries, some roast and decent bitterness. Spicy, hints of tobacco. A sourish cherry lingers at the finish. Style guess for me was Old Ale, but since Anchor lists everything "Top Secret" perhaps "Winter Warmer" is the place to leave this.

2 comments:

Actually, what appears to be a person at the top of the tree can be found in a historical photo of the original tree. Anchor embellished a little with the branches, but a cool story for a tree homaging beer. 👍